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If you look on the message boards here at Crossbones and other
ECU-related
sites, you'll surely read how season ticket purchases as well as Pirate
Club
donations are significantly down, a trend that probably started the
moment the
clock struck :00 in Mobile in December of 2001.
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So, why are season tickets and Pirate Club memberships down? Maybe its
because
folks, like me, understand that investing in a Pirate Ship that's
hellbent on
BCS access is a risky proposition and we're are taking a "wait-and-see"
approach.
First off, if Terry Holland is able to land ECU into the Big East as an
all-sports member, "HALLELUJAH!". But, the following questions need to
be
addressed at some point:
1) Louisville just about prevented ECU's entry into C-USA, so what's to
stop
them from a repeat performance, especially if they want to protect the
sanctity
of Big East hoops...?
2) See #1, only replace "Louisville" with "Cincinnati".
3) Who's to say the Big East will even have automatic BCS access in
5-10
years...? The way things are headed, the Mountain West is perched and
ready to
replace the Big East at the BCS table, especially if schools like Utah
continue
to make top-10 appearances not only in the human polls, but the BCS
standings on
a regular basis.
It's clear that Holland's strategy will be to attempt to schedule games
with
members of the Big East -- although I doubt Louisville will schedule
ECU as long
as Bobby Petrino and John Thompson are the respective head coaches.
It's also
reasonable to expect most of these games to be played on the road,
simply
because 1) ECU has no scheduling leverage, and 2) ECU needs the
road(national)
exposure.
Playing them is one thing, beating them is another. Unless ECU can
recruit a
different caliber of athlete, losses will pile up one after the other
in such an
arrangement.
Gone are the days where ACC rejects would willingly come to East Carolina.
Nowadays, those players are taking the "Prep school" route frankly
because they
want to play BCS ball and feel its worth the wait, as opposed to
playing
mid-major ball.
Recruiting will become even more difficult because of the changing
landscape.
The ACC is on the way to creating a monopoly on east coast talent, and
those
players that aren't ACC-caliber will try to find their way to the Big
East.
Without the players, it'll be difficult to win, and that's why folks
like me are
taking a "wait and see" approach to investing in the Pirate Ship.
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Prediction Time: Army vs. East
Carolina
East Carolina will attempt to get its second win of 2004, as well as
only its
second home win under John Thompson, when the Black Knights of Army
come to
town.
Bobby Ross, in his first season at Army, has the Black Knights winning
with a
balanced offensive attack led by QB Zac Dahman (41-for-74, 55.4%, 686,
3 TDs in
three starts), and RB Cartlon Jones, who rushed for 5 TDs in Army's
last game at
South Florida.
East Carolina will attempt to do something it's has difficulty doing in
its last
6 quarters, and that's find the endzone. Since the 2nd half of the
Tulane game,
ECU has only found the endzone once -- a useless TD pass from James Pinkney to
Chris Johnson.
Why those two were even playing in the fourth quarter with ECU
trailing
Southern Miss 49-3 is a valid entry for a "Top 10 reasons why ECU needs
another
head coach" list.
Neither team understands the concept of defense, with East Carolina
allowing 41
points per game, and Army allowing 35 points per game. Expect to go to
a
football game, only to see a basketball score emerge.
I look for Army to get its first win in the young series mainly because
Bobby
Ross is light years beyond John Thompson as a head coach, and unlike
Thompson,
has his players not only believing in what he is doing, but believing
they can
win -- anywhere.
Army - 52, East Carolina 35
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